SEO copy

how to go about developing ones writing skills

[Rick42]

As most webmasters know, search engines and especially Google, love fresh and relevant content. With the lattest changes that Jagger brought, it seems more important then ever now.

With that said, what would be the best way to go about obtaining new and original content? Obviously, if your smart, you want to stay away from stealing content from other sites as 1) You can get into copyright violation issues with website owners and 2) You most likely will be diminishing your rankings by triggering duplicate content filters.

I for one, saw one of my Web pages drop from a top 5 position in Google, to page 4 due to too much dup content. I was posting articles with links to the sites, not stealing, but was still getting hit by the filter. And I am sure of this, as the moment Google re-spidered my site after removing the majority of the duplicate content, I was back to the top 5.

IMHO, honing one's writing skills so that you can create useful and original SEO copy on a regular basis would be the optimum solution to this. But that could be a good long term goal.

As far as I can see, finding websites that offer free articles and editing them is the only way to go about it for webmasters who aren't "writting savvy".

What can a webmaster do to either obtain or build good & original articles and/or learn to develop writing skills?

[Content Writer]

If you're writing more than a handful of articles, or if you have long term plans for building up content sites, you might consider looking around for a little bit of help.

Any significant amount of writing takes some time, especially if just one person is doing the writing, and if that one person is a webmaster, that means certain webmaster duties might get neglected.

The development of ones writing skills is always nice, and would be well pursued as a personal endeavor...but not as part of a webmaster's business plan.

[Rick42]

The development of ones writing skills is always nice, and would be well pursued as a personal endeavor...but not as part of a webmaster's business plan.

I see what you mean. So that would mean that most content-oriented websites have full time (or partly) writers, which for many webmasters is a luxury they cant afford.

So for those of us who have to take the longer harder way what would be the best method to go about obtaining or creating content..? A good site reference would be appreciated.

[Harry]

You know, no matter how many times you twist the question around, search for answer from so called experts, and so on, the only answer is write, write, write.

There's no way around it. There are no magic wands or an army of volunteers just waiting to contribute material.

The time you spend looking for a way around this problem could be used writing your own articles.

I also disagree with the notion that writing takes too much effort and is not an optimal solution for the average Webmaster. In the end, it's the copy on the site that will make or break it. There's only one way to get things done right, when you lack the money.

Do it yourself.

[Rick42]

thanks for the reply Harry, and although I get what you are saying, I think the point is being missed here.

I am fully aware that there is no army of volunteers at my disposal, or a magic wand. I am prepared to get
my hands dirty and get into the nitty-gritty of copywritting, but I would appreciate if someone could give me a few pointers or tips, URLs of good sites on writting or even article editing, how they go about it, what they've seen to be more efficient methods of work, how they inspire themselves for subjects to write on, etc.

You know what I am saying?!

I know there is SOMEONE who has a few guidelines to help out beginners in here. Thats what I'm after.

[Harry]

Ok. I see what you mean. There's always a ton of good comprenhesive threads heare.

For topics, carry a note pad with you all the time and write down anything of interest that you see, hear and so on. Try to find a link with your site's topic. Read the news, take some notes, and find a link with your topics.

Remembers the five W of any article - what, where, when, hown why, how. Answer all of these in the first few paragraphs then break it up per sub topics - always one paragraph per sub topic. Don't talk about two things in one paragraph. As soon as the sub topic gets too big, break it up.

A page and a half is a good size of an article.

Write a conclusion explaining your major points. Write short sentences with simple words.

Pick up a good book on writing at the library. They have thousands on news writing usually.

[Beagle]

Awhile back there was a thread in this forum mourning the lack of good threads on writing compared to the number dealing with "Someone stole my content" or "Will I get sued if I use someone else's [fill in the blank]?" And looking down the page of most recent posts, it's kind of hard to find much on writing. Syzygy's thread on editing press releases is an exception - a lot of good information was contributed there that can be useful not only for editing someone else's press release, but for editing and writing your own material.

I just did a few minutes' research in the WebmasterWorld library to try to find a way to use it efficiently for this topic, and what I'd suggest is to pick the option to sort by forum, ascending order, last 100 threads. Using that method, threads from the Content, Writing and Copyright forum start on page 5. The library has a much higher percentage of good threads on writing than the day-to-day forum does, and even old ones can be useful. I glanced at a few threads, and will follow my own search instructions when I have time to read some of them - good stuff (including the one on editing press releases).

Harry's post gave some other very good suggestions, so I won't repeat those.

Rick42 (and anyone else reading this), as you write, you're bound to come up against specific questions you want to ask, so go ahead and ask them. Suggestions and guidelines for content writing are as user-specific as suggestions and guidelines for anything else that goes into building a website, so your specific situation will make a difference in how other posters respond to your questions. And I, for one, would much rather get into discussions like that than another "How much of someone else's [fill in the blank] can I use without getting sued?"

ETA: Before I started this post, I checked out a site I used to recommend to people who wanted writing resources and was completely disappointed. What used to be a site that gave writers a lot of help now just gives links to books you can buy to get help. If I run across a site that's good now, I'll mention it.

[ken_b]

Content writing and [promotional] copy writing seem to get blended together quite a bit in threads about either here at WW. I'm not really sure which this thread is refering to.

That said, here are links to a couple of older threads I have bookmarked that might be interesting.

Writing Copy - A Simple Guide [webmasterworld.com]

Writing for the Web: Shared Tips [webmasterworld.com]

[abbeyvet]

It may seem basic, but I think one of the most important things when writing content for the web is to have it well edited.

So often I come upon a site that looks great and even has great information but which puts me off totally when I read 'your' when it should be 'you're' (that one is unbelieveably common) or 'licence' for 'license' or 'affect' for 'effect'. The web is littered with these kind of errors and, for me anyway, they take hugely from the credibility of what I am reading.

I don't claim to be perfect in this regard and none of us edit ourselves very well, but if I was to give a single tip it would be to at least print out what you have written and read it carefully before you publish - it is amazing how quickly you will spot errors in print that you miss on a screen.

[edited by: abbeyvet at 9:20 pm (utc) on Dec. 14, 2005]

[lcampers]

You will only make compelling copy if you are writing about something you care about, that is the first and most important step.

Even if you have a team of writers working for you, if you don't care about the topic, you won't focus on it.

If you do care, you will create the best site in your niche (and everyone needs a niche don't they?)...

Seems obvious, but many people start businesses that they don't really care about, which in turn ultimately leads to failure

[Syzygy]

Any chance of bringing the 'writing for the web' thread back up to the fore somehow - or should we start it anew?

Syzygy

[ken_b]

I don't think I've ever seen a thread as old as the "Writing for the Web" thread reopened here. Probably just as well to use it as a reference and keep this thread going.

[timchuma]

I was recruited to write for two different websites by the owner of the site approaching me via email and asking if I wanted to write for them.

You can try posting to forums on the topic, but it would be difficult to do without having it look like spam.

I ended up printing out the 5+ years of collected widget reviews I have on my own website. There is a lot of them and it also gave me the opportunity to start going over them and re-editing them properly.

Thanks.

[Liane]

There's only one way to get things done right, when you lack the money. Do it yourself.

You will only make compelling copy if you are writing about something you care about

Amen to both comments!

Five years ago, when I was having trouble with search engines and was about to go bankrupt, WebmasterWorld found me. VERY long story short, I was taught to do everything for myself. I learned to build my own pages (thanks again to Dave), write my own copy, draw my own diagrams and take my own photos.

I was told by numerous professionals right here at WebmasterWorld that "content is king". So I set about building a content site. I mean a "real" content site. Today, my site has nearly 200 pages which may not seem like a lot to those who have thousands of pages ... but my site is 100% original and contains meaningful and helpful content for my niche market. It isn't designed as search engine fodder with 12 pages of the same thing written 12 different ways. Its all original, meaningful and useful information not available anywhere else on the WWW.

Writing for the web is an art!

Writing pages which convert to income requires skill. In my humble opinion and for those of us who are not SEO geniuses ... there is no fast track to web site building or making a decent living from your site. There is only the following:

Learn to put a proper sentence together. Taking an English Grammar course is recommended if you are grammatically challenged. There is nothing worse than trying to read a page with spelling errors, grammatical errors or disjointed thoughts which ramble on and end nowhere.

Plan to have a beginning, middle and end for each page ... then put it in writing. I often start with a page synopsis and work backwards to ensure that my new pages meet my objectives.

Learn your subject inside and out. Become an authority. You cannot write anything meaningful or useful unless you know of what you speak! Research takes time. Lots of time! But once done and once you know your facts are 100% correct, your site will automatically gain trust and links from outside sources.

Never throw up a page for the sake of building your page count unless there is a legitimate reason for doing so. While some may argue that the search engines “eat the stuff up”, your audience will likely disagree. You are looking for eyeballs, not just search engine robots! While the robots may be attracted to the search engine fodder you spew out by the hour, those human eyeballs will not be impressed unless there is some real meat and potatoes to your writings! Keep in mind that there is nothing quite so handy as one’s back button!

Don’t try to be cute unless you have a real talent for it and know your subject intimately. Familiarity breeds contempt ... so be careful about how familiar you become in your writings. Remember that there may be hundreds or even thousands of people who know your subject better than you. If you pretend that you are close enough to your subject that you can make jokes about it ... you had better be certain in that knowledge. Otherwise, you will be picked apart by those who do know the subject better than you! Its best to be concise, objective and to the point unless you know that you are “the” authority or (at the very least) amongst a few recognized authorities on the topic at hand.

The most important things when writing for the web:

The use of white space is critical if you plan to keep those eyeballs on your page.

Titles represent 80% of the value of your page.

Craft your titles very, very carefully.

Deliver what your title promises!

Use humour sparingly and only when you know you can get away with it.

Keep your paragraphs relatively short. Use white space to make the page easier to read.

Photos help to illustrate points a lot!

Use any trick in the book to make your page visually pleasing!

I could have done a much better job writing this reply, if I weren't so tired. Knowing when to walk away from the computer and write when the inspiration strikes is the best piece of advice I have to offer! :)

[Essex_boy]

Id say stay away from homour - not everyone finds a certain statement funny.

[Rick42]

I could have done a much better job writing this reply, if I weren't so tired. Knowing when to walk away from the computer and write when the inspiration strikes is the best piece of advice I have to offer! :)

Tired or not, that was a great post Liane. thanks to you, and to those who have posted on here so far, I am already getting some great information on this subject.

[malachite]

So often I come upon a site that looks great and even has great information but which puts me off totally when I read 'your' when it should be 'you're' (that one is unbelieveably common) or 'licence' for 'license' or 'affect' for 'effect'...

abbeyvet, I agree with you re the common error "your" and "you're". The other two examples however, depend very much on the location of the author. What may appear incorrect to an American reader, will, in fact, be totally correct to the British writer.

---

With regard to spelling errors, these can sometimes work to your advantage. If a word is commonly mis-spelt, then include those mis-spellings in your copy. An inadvertent spelling error has brought me thousands of visitors who have also mis-typed the keyword. Rather than remove it, I added the correct word and highlighted the erroneous spelling.

In addition, UK writers who want to attract a US audience (or vice-versa) should bear in mind that if your "widget" is spelt differently in the other country, to include the spelling differences in the copy.

[Beagle]

malachite, I agree for 'licence' vs. "license" - but don't effect and affect have the same meanings in Britspeak as they do in American?

[malachite]

Beagle, apparently not!

I looked up the US usage before posting the above, and it seems in American English, both "affect" and "effect" are used as noun and verb. In UK English, "affect" is used only as a verb.

True? Yes! Pedantic? Probably :)

[Beagle]

I know the U.S. usage - I didn't know it was different in Britain. Interesting.

The U.S. use of affect as a noun is very limited, probably most often used in psychology about a person's "affect" (emphasis on first syllable). For example, a "flat affect" means they have very little facial expression of emotion. Otherwise, affect is a verb.

OTOH, effect is usually a noun, but has a limited use as a verb, as in when something "effects a change" -- i.e., actually causes the change, rather than merely "affecting" it.

[peggster]

I just wanted to say thanks for lots of great suggestions. I've let my website flounder, and have recently been reminded of the need to upgrade my content. I appreciate the motivation and ideas for writing great content. Thanks!

peggster